Annoucement: I recently made a biggggg mistake and managed to delete all of my blog photos. I am working to get them all back up asap. Please bear with me, and if you have any questions on tutorials, please feel free to email me and I will try to help you out as best as I can...Thanks!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Why God put a snake in my house...

This is my absolute, all-time favorite Christmas movie! I have been waiting to watch it all year, but I have very strict rules about all things Christmas (movies, music, decorating, etc) being only for CHRISTMAS TIME! Otherwise where's the fun? I firmly believe the best things in life are worth waiting for!

So, I waited. And waited. And waited. And finally the day after Thanksgiving came! I was so super excited! The kids and I stayed in our pjs, drank coffee, and then I got my things together to sit in front of the tv and work on Christmas gifts while watching my favorite Christmas movie. Then, in the evening, I was going to take down the tree and decorate...

But sometimes life doesn't go exactly as planned...First, although, I would have sworn I had the movie, I couldn't find it anywhere, so no biggie, I just put in it's a wonderful life instead, then around lunchtime, I had a very unexpected, VERY UNWELCOME guest....a snake!!!!

Ugh! I get shivers thinking about it! Sophie pointed up at the a/c vent and said "Mommy, what's that?" So, I look up and sure enough it was a snake! Yuck! My hubby was working, so I figured I'd run grab my phone and call my neighbor to come over and help and just as I turned my back, I heard it hit the floor! The kids screamed so I grabbed the broom to kill it but by the time I turned around, it had disappeared!

I called my grandma and grandpa over to help and I stood on a chair crying...well, more like whining and shivering, lol until they got there. And we searched, and searched, and searched and could not find the son of a gun!

So finally, I did what anyone would do...I googled "how to get a snake out of your house" and I found a ton of websites saying sticky traps were the way to go. By this time it was getting dark, so I loaded up the kids and our bags, left all the lights on (because I read they were more active in the dark, and I was hoping the lights being on would make it stay put somewhere in the kitchen), went to walmart and bought some sticky traps, came home set them, and left to sleep over at my cousins.

Everyone laughed at my sticky traps, but sure enough, the next day when me and my dad came to check it out, HE WAS CAUGHT!!!! All I could say was "Thank You, GOD!"

This is the second time a snake has came out of that vent! And it always happens when my hubby is working! The last time was two years ago on Halloween, and thankfully I killed that one as soon as it hit the ground! I know some people may disagree with me, but I fully believe that God put both those snakes in my house.

Let me explain, we bought this house from my parents who bought it at a sheriff sale to flip. At the time we started remodeling, no one had lived here in two years, plus the people who did have it had basically torn it apart. There where holes in the floor and walls, and the it's surrounded by farm land. The grass in this yard and next door was completely overgrown (the same person had owned both properties), and once before the holes where closed up our contractor found a snake in the master closet, plus my hubby found a five foot snake skin in the a/c closet! And we killed lots of them outside.

I'm sure some people would never have moved in, but we did most of the work ourselves, and believe me every single inch of this house is locked up tight...apparently the a/c ducts need work, but inside the actual living area I either supervised or personally closed up the holes. Every. single. inch of this house (attic excluded. lol) was thoroughly closed up.

But, I still worried. My constant prayer was "Dear God, please don't ever let there be a snake in my house because I just couldn't handle it." Did you catch my mistake? I thought I could tell God what I could and could not handle. I forgot the scripture I had repeated so many times:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" -Philippians 4:13

I had taken it for parts of my life but not others. When I killed that first snake, I was terrified, but I did it. And despite the fact that it literally took me about 10 swings with my broom to finally hit it...it never moved. Funny thing is, it's body was moving as if it were slithering away, but it never moved. It was as if something was holding it there. I know that might sound crazy, but it's the truth.

But then, I made the mistake again, I would say "at least I was able to kill it before it hid from me. I couldn't handle that." And two years later, what happens? The same thing! Only this time, I couldn't find it! And guess what, I survived. I made it through.

That night as I laid in bed at my cousin's snake free house, I got it. I prayed "Dear God, please, please, please let the sticky trap catch the snake, but if it doesn't, give me the strength and courage to accept it and deal with it. But seriously, if you could let the sticky trap catch it, that would be awesome!" lol

I don't regret either experience. I wouldn't change them. It's one less thing I have to worry about because regardless of what the future holds,

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" -Philippians 4:13

Now don't get me wrong, I am not claiming to be some theological genius. Truth be told, I don't know how this post got here. I just wanted to write about my favorite Christmas movie and the funny story of the snake in my house, but somehow or another all these words just spilled out of me. As I said I am not some expert on God or the Bible. I don't even attend church regularly. I do read my Bible and other Bible based books, somewhat regularly. I pray everyday, throughout the day but basically, I could do better. But one thing I do know is that whether God did put that snake in my house or not,

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" -Philippians 4:13

I hope that you guys know that you can too. And I want you all to know that I truly do love you guys. As I said before, I am no expert on anything, but if you ever need prayer I would love to pray for you. You can even leave a comment anonymously...I read every. single. comment.

I know this blog is mostly about sewing and crafts, but despite my shortcomings, God is a hugepart of my life. He has given me a heart for moms and teenage girls, and a big part of the reason I write this blog is because I want to encourage all women to shoot for their dreams, and never give up and know that if God has put it on your heart He will make the way. He cares about anything and everything that is important to you.

Does that mean you will get everything you want and never have any troubles? No. Does that mean you will always do the right thing and make the right choices? No. The Bible tells us that. Will the trials and mistakes be worth it? Absolutely.

God knows your heart.

I spent most of my life with this voice inside my head telling me I couldn't do it. Couldn't do what? Huh, anything I ever thought about doing. And I believed it. For a long, long time. That voice is still in my head. But, it's getting weaker, quieter. And every time I make it through something I never thought I could, it gets a little quieter, and I can feel God there. And my faith gets a little stronger.

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comments:

I loved this post. I loved that you faced your fears triumphantly! And, P.S., I hardly ever read blogs this long. I just don't have the attention span. lol. I read this WHOLE post! Seriously, great post. Definitely inspired.

Oh my gosh, April! This is my favorite blog post.....ever. I'm in tears. I can absolutely relate and totally understand. Beautifully said girl. I absolutely love you. Thanks for letting God take over this....it is such a blessing to me.

Call me crazy but I think you wrote this post for me. I have been stuggling lately with a mashed up mess of junk and have been feeling a lot overwhelmed. I told someone yesterday that I felt like I was in a down pour lately, emotionally and physically. This post, all of the motivational and biblical quotes, spoke to me and I feel like the clouds are parting. Holy crap, I know sound crazy right about now but I am serious. Huh, I have some things to think about. Thank you for writing this post even if you did have to endure the snake.

I am thankful you wrote this post. I appreciated how you pointed out the way youthoght the two snake incidences should be taken of and then how God actually decided how you should deal with them. Take this cup, but not my will, Your will, God. You are/were certainly brave! I lived in snake territory as a chil and still have actual nightmares about once a month and I am 43 now.

The snake was sent so you could write a fab blog post and that you'd always have the 'the time the snake got into the house and we got it with sticky traps' story! I'm glad the scareyest thing we live near is a grumpy (but totally harmless) spider. one of the reasons i like britain is that there are no nasty creatures coming to bite your bum!

Hey Lady! I'm in tears over this post. Something about you Louisianans with y'alls snakes, huh? I kid! My brother Benjamin was working outside one day, while his youngest was in the living room watching TV. He came through the house telling all three kids to pick-this-and-that up. Well, she was laying right on the carpet near his bedroom door. He walked into his room and thought a belt was on the floor. He went to pick it up and it moved. He flipped on the light switch and a 4 1/2 foot cottonmouth was laying right at the doorway coming around the corner into the living room. He was freaking out! His baby was laying inches from it's head, and never knew it. Now she is always checking around before she does anything. He was able to kill it, bit we think it came through a pipe area of the bathroom. His house is new, but you can tell attention wasn't given to the plumbing.